The Welsh Government has responded to the most recent NHS Wales performance data, which was published on Thursday 21st September.

In a statement, a spokesperson talked about the hard-working NHS staff who continue to operate amid high and increasing levels of demand.

They said: "It’s encouraging to see the longest waits are continuing to fall, now more than 60% lower than the peak. The majority of pathways (59.7%) are waiting less than 26 weeks, and the median is still around 19 weeks.

"The number of people waiting longer than eight weeks for diagnostic services has also decreased.

"It’s disappointing to see overall waiting lists back to their highest levels on record and that is due to the number of people joining the waiting lists. But over the last 12 months waiting lists in Wales have only increased by 1.9% compared to 10.7% in England. Health boards are working hard to tackle the longest waits and the most urgent cases are always seen first."

The spokesperson continued: "We and health and social care partners are working hard to target improvements, particularly in respect of patient flow, ahead of the winter period.

"Cancer treatment has increased against the 62 day target but the Welsh Government accept that there is still more to do in this area despite the fact that 14,074 people were informed in one month that they did not have cancer.

"Despite the pressures on budgets, the Health Minister expects health boards to achieve the new targets for reducing the longest waits and we will continue to support them to achieve that."